High-net-worth investors can significantly profit by adopting a business-like structure for their personal wealth management, according to a new study.

Many high-net-worth entrepreneurs start out managing their wealth on their own, but as they grow more successful and their portfolio grows, more management expertise is needed, according to the study, releasd by Boston-based wealth management firm Lake Street Advisors LLC.

Without structure, a high-profile investor can experience the same organizational problems that may arise at a company: a confused financial picture, missed opportunities, and a growing list of challenges, according to the report, entitled The Discipline of Wealth: Applying a Business Mindset to Wealth Management.

"Without applying the business discipline beforehand, investors don't have the road map that they need to get from point A, where you are today, to point B, where you want to be the future," said Carolyn B.R. Decker, co-owner and relationship manager for Lake Street Advisors LLC., a Boston and Portsmouth, N.H.-based independent fee-only wealth advisory firm that manages over $3.2 billion in assets.      

"Under these circumstances, the kind of structure and information that fuels decision making in a business must be brought to bear on personal finance," Decker said.

-Jim McConville